Ryan weighs House floor change after gay rights flap

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Paul Ryan is taking steps to bring greater order to the House floor after a Democrat-authored gay rights amendment caused chaos last week.

Last week Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney offered a gay rights amendment that was about to pass, before seven Republicans changed their votes under pressure from House GOP leaders, and the amendment failed.

GOP lawmakers and aides said Maloney's amendment caught them by surprise and they had to take quick action against it in order to salvage the underlying legislation, a spending bill to pay for popular veterans and military construction projects.

A similar scenario flared last year on an amendment related to the Confederate flag, and Democrats had already made clear that they would be bringing Maloney's amendment back up on other spending bills.